How to become a Hindu.

Well here I am, back in Trissur, the cultural centre of Kerala. I came here yesterday and saw a Kathakali performance in the evening, much better (and shorter) than the one I have seen in Irinjalakuda. Before I go to Trissur I always give a call to CA Menon, he retired from assurance business 6 years ago (but is still very fit) and knows almost everything about the cultural events which are going on in Trissur. He writes a festival guide every year which contains all the information about the traditional art performances in Kerala. He is a very kind and openminded man. I could stay in his house for the night, he gave me breakfast and lunch and provides me with all the necessary information. Unbelievable how he just does that with pleasure without asking anything in return. I allready mentioned that non-hindus are not allowed to go in the temples. Now you have to know that a lot of Kathakali and Koodiyattam performances are held in temples, they are some kind of ritual. When I asked him about this Hindu certificate he immedeately made a phonecall to the right person in Calicut and advised me to go there soon. There I will undergo some kind of ritual tomorrow, I have to choose a hindu name and I will come out as a hindu. Appearantly its as easy as that. CA Menon told me that they don't allow everybody, he says you need the right contacts. Oh well, we'll see what happens tomorrow. For me the most important thing is to be able to see the performances in the temple. Maybe you have a proposition for a good hindu name, for me it's difficult to find a good one. But it should be without r, my mother doesn't want that because she doesn't like the way my father pronounces the r (he uses the french r(throat) and she prefers the italian(tongue)) :-D So if you have a good idea, tell me.

The Kutiyattam lessons with Sooraj are somewhat different than a lesson i would expect of a european teacher. The european teacher would give many and shorter exercices to keep the attention going. But here it's more about repeating the same thing over and over, it's a real challenge for concentration and for perseverance. The teacher shows and you repeat, while a european teacher (again a huge generalasition offcourse, but what can we say without them?) would systematically explain and show the steps first. He would first make you understand and then teach you the steps. Here you just imitate and wait till the understanding comes. Here they say there is a time for everything and things will come when you are ready for it. I come from an environment where people believe that man is makeable, that one can create his own life.

Yes, i see beggars without some limbs or poor people regularly, it's difficult to look them in the eyes. But first of all it would be wrong to consider their unhappy situation as my fault. My responsibility? Well, today I drank a pinapple juice for 20 rupees, with which you can buy a meal. Should I have given these 20 rupees to the woman with a bruise on her face who was sitting in the middle of a side alley between the sidewalks -which are quite high here- who was adressing her word to me? I was not the only one who was drinking juice, what about the rich Indians, is it their responsability. Oh well, enough of that, it's important to think about but it should not spoil my state of mind.